FEATURE:
Forever in Our Lives
Prince’s Sign o’ the Times Reissue, and a Golden Vault That Keeps on Giving
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THIS might seem a bit niche…
IN THIS PHOTO: Prince in 1987/PHOTO CREDIT: REX
but I am doing a few features this week that involves smaller releases and stuff away from the bigger news. A little while ago, an announcement was made regarding Prince’s Sign o' the Times being re-released in a number of formats. This is exciting for Prince and non-fans alike, as the legend died in 2016, but we are still seeing so much ace material emerging from his vaults. Sign o' the Times was the ninth studio album by Prince. It was first released as a double album on 30th March, 1987. The album was the follow-up to Parade, and it was Prince's first album following his disbanding of The Revolution. In terms of which Prince album is the best, people can argue about this, because there are quite a few contenders! Whether you prefer Purple Rain, or fancy The Black Album, it is hard to say which album best defines the genius that is Prince. I think Sign o' the Times is a classic and very much part of a purple patch – if you’ll excuse the pun (Prince was, after all, The Purple One!). Before I go on, here are some details regarding the upcoming Sign o' the Times packages:
“Prince‘s 1987 album Sign O’ The Times will be reissued by Warner Records in September and amongst the formats are two enormous CD and vinyl super deluxe editions that offer a massive 63 previously unreleased tracks, including 45 studio ‘vault’ tracks. Read on for all the details…
Getting straight down to it, the super deluxe edition box sets comprise the following:
CD1 or LP 1- Sign O’ The Times (Remastered)
CD2 or LP 2 – Sign O’ The Times (Remastered)
CD3 or LP 3 & 4 – Singles Mixes / Edits / B-Sides (Remastered)
CD4 or LP 5 & 6 – Vault Tracks (Unreleased)
CD5 or LP 7 & 8 – Vault Tracks (Unreleased)
CD6 or LP 9 & 10 – Vault Tracks (Unreleased)
CD8 or 9 / LPs 11-13 – Live In Utrecht June 20th 1987 (Unreleased)
DVD – Live at Paisley Park December 31st 1987 (Unreleased Sign O’ The Times show ft Miles Davis)
The 45 vault tracks are full of unreleased gems including a 1979 version of ‘I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man‘, two unreleased versions of ‘Strange Relationship‘ (including a Shep Pettibone club remix!), alternate versions of ‘The Ballad of Dorothy Parker‘ and ‘Forever in My Life‘ and a fantastic amount of songs that Prince simply never issued, many of which were destined for three aborted albums conceived in 1986: The Dream Factory, Camille and Crystal Ball. These songs include ‘Rebirth of the Flesh‘, two completely different versions of ‘Witness 4 the Prosecution‘ and ‘Wonderful Day‘ (again two versions, one of which is a 12-inch remix).
It’s an embarrassment of riches and of course as well as all this unreleased material, the super deluxe editions contain a CD (or two LPs) of all the commercially released seven-inch edits, 12-inch remixes, B-sides, dub mixes and more. Like the album itself these have all been remastered by Bernie Grundman.
The box sets also deliver an entire previously unreleased audio recording of Prince’s Sign O’ The Times tour performance in Utrecht from 20 June 1987 and a DVD (NTSC, region free) with a complete previously unreleased recording of Prince’s benefit performance at Paisley Park, 31 December 1987 (featuring Prince’s only on-stage collaboration with Miles Davis).
Both vinyl and CD boxes are presented in a 12″ x 12″ sets and come with a 120-page hardcover book featuring brand new liner notes from various parties including Lenny Kravitz (who provides a foreword), audio engineer Susan Rogers, Dave Chappelle and Minneapolis music scene commentator Andrea Swensson. There are also detailed notes on the vault tracks by Prince scholar Duane Tudahl and the book also includes previously unseen photos and Prince’s handwritten lyrics.
As well as the two big boxes, 3CD and 4LP packages offer remastered album alongside the single mixes, edits and B-sides while the album-only editions come on limited 2LP peach-coloured vinyl and 2CD. All formats except 2CD and 2LP are ONE TIME ONLY pressings. Once the initial run sells out that’s it! Once the 2LP peach vinyl is gone, it will be replaced with a black vinyl version. Fans will be well aware that the 1999 super deluxe editions are now out of print less than a year after release. The vinyl sets will come with a download code!
Additionally, a special seven-inch singles box set on peach vinyl, with some vault tracks included, is limited to 1987 units and is exclusive to the Prince store and Third Man Records.
SDE has had an exclusive preview of some of the vault tracks and discussed this reissue with vault archivist Michael Howe. Stay tuned for more coverage!
Sign O’ The Times is reissued on 25 September 2020 by Warner Music”.
That is a lot of information in there and, to be honest, I think it is a lot to take in! I am keen to get hold of one of the vinyl packages, but one reason I wanted to write this feature is to express my admiration for the vault that Prince left us.
Most artists, when they die, might see a posthumous album or two. There is always this cash-in from estates, that involves putting out older material or anything that will keep the memory alive. With Prince, I don’t think he was ever thinking about the end of his career or life. He was just so prolific and hard-working; he was recording albums but had so many other songs recorded that have never made it to the public. I am not sure how much more music is in the vault, but I can imagine there are decades more left to reveal! Some might say that it is hard to quality-control now that Prince is no longer with us. He might not have wanted the songs to be out there, but it would be a huge tragedy if all this incredible music was to be left in the vault forever. You can get some more information regarding his vault and everything that has come out in the last few years. I am always staggered when I hear music come from that vault, as it sounds like it should have been on an album! With the upcoming Sign o’ the Times releases, we will get to hear a load of new tracks that have yet to see the light of the day. It is amazing to think that the coming years will reveal regarding these rare Prince tracks! Even if you are not going to get one of the remastered editions of Sign o’ the Times, then I am sure the unreleased tracks will be available via streaming platforms; a chance for us to hear gems from the vaults from an artist who continues to amaze and stagger…
OVER four years since he left us.